i don't care what party you are in. it doesn't make a difference. i am asking you to join me in this effort. when the pundits and historians look back on the last two years of barack obama's presidency and try to explain how to in administration that started out so extreme was finally made to listen, they will say it started right here in kentucky. [applause] they will say this very night the people of kentucky began to fight back. [applause] together my friends, we will renew this country. it starts this evening.

thank you all for being here. [applause] [country music plays] >> allison grimes won the

democratic seat. she spoke to supporters for 20 minutes. [applause] >> thank you. thank you. good evening, kentuckians. [applause] my fellow kentuckians, it is an honor to stand before you as your nominee. [applause] thank you for the overwhelming confidence that you have in the

campaign we together are running. and the race we will win in november. [applause] together, we will take this fight to mitch mcconnell and hold him accountable for his 30 years of failed leadership. [applause] together, we will make history and kentucky will finally get a senator who puts people above partisanship. one that will work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year to improve the lives of kentuckians. help them find jobs. make it a better place to live. [applause] tonight, we celebrate the support, the overwhelming

support we have received all across the commonwealth of kentucky. senator mcconnell thinks he is above all of us here. literally flying around the state the night before the election while we have been and will continue to be on the ground in every corner of the commonwealth of kentucky. [applause] most recently in a 10 day, 50 county bus tour where the energy and enthusiasm was contagious. democrats, republicans, it and independents coming together and embracing our vision. which is about ending the gridlock, the obstruction, the extreme partisanship in washington dc that mitch mcconnell championed.

putting a u.s. senator on behalf of the commonwealth of kentucky that will work to grow the middle class, create jobs, and help create a better commonwealth of kentucky. [applause] as we stand here tonight, i have to thank each of my family members. my husband, andrew. my parents. my sisters. ashley, who celebrates a birthday tonight. [applause] and amy. dr. and mrs. grimes. my grandmother, who could not be with us tonight but is one of the fiercest kentucky woman i know. she taught me anything i can set my mind to, i can accomplish. each and every one of you. my aunts and uncles, cousins throughout the commonwealth.

you have been with me as i have sought to be the change i believe we need. i am forever grateful. i want to thank the governor. former governors brown and collins and carol and patton. they have been a part of this campaign. governor collins has traveled everywhere on the bus tour with me. [applause] to my fellow constitutional officers, members of the house and senate who have been with us every step of the way. to my hard-working talented staff who has led, under the direction of campaign manager jonathan hirsch. you have an unwavering commitment to help us move this state and nation forward.

most importantly, to each and every one of you here tonight and joining us across the television screen. it is because of you, your prayers and persistence. you are getting out to work each and every day. is why we stand here tonight with a brighter future of touch with the possibility of a brighter future that awaits us in november. [applause] i want to thank my three opponents in today's primary election. and to matt bevin who led a spirited campaign against senator gridlock. [laughter] i thank you for stepping forward. i know it is not easy being a candidate. trust me, i know. but i believe our great democracy is at its best when people step forward to have an

exchange of ideas. i want to invite kentuckians to join us in our common cause. to have a fresh, independent voice in washington that finally puts kentucky, not washington partisanship first. [applause] united we will make a change. we celebrate here tonight, but make no mistake. our work continues tomorrow. let us have no illusions about what is ahead of us and what lies ahead. millions of d.c. lobbyist insider dollars and out-of-state political action committees. mitch mcconnell is going to try to buy his way back to

washington dc with deceitful, untruthful, negative nasty ads that will try to distort and distract from his failed record. he wants this campaign to be about anything but his record. what does it say about a man who has been in washington dc now 30 years in the senate? he has no record to run on? it can only be on attacks and misleading information that he runs a campaign. [applause] indeed, mitch mcconnell would have you believe that president obama is on kentucky's ballot. we all know that senator mcconnell has been in washington a little bit too long. [applause] so out of touch that he can't

tell the difference between a doup jersey and the university of kentucky. let me set the record straight for our senior senator. president obama is not on the 2014 election ballot. nothing about this election will change who was in the white house, but we can change who is in washington dc and put somebody for the commonwealth of kentucky. senator mcconnell, this race is between you and me. that is the name that appears on the ballot. [applause] as you said so many years ago,

it is my number one priority to make sure senator mcconnell does not see another term. [applause] mitch mcconnell, he wants to tell you who i am. he has said -- he claims kentucky will be lost if we trade in his seat for a kentucky woman he believes will sit on the back bench. i am here to tell you tonight, my fellow kentuckians, i am not an empty dress or a rubber stamp. i am not a cheerleader. i am a strong kentucky woman who is an independent thinker. the decisions i make will be what are best for the people of kentucky.

as kentucky's next senator, i will answer to the people of the state. i will not answer to the president no matter who he or she might be. [applause] as a proud kentucky woman, i will speak for myself and in no kentucky woman, mitch mcconnell, will sit on the back bench. [applause] we all know washington is broken. it is not working for kentucky. after 30 years, it is mitch mcconnell at the center of the gridlock. kentucky is tired of a senator

who proudly calls himself the dr. of no. the guardian of gridlock. we deserve a senator for the people of this state. [applause] the selection, it is not about party control. it is about two very different visions for the commonwealth of kentucky. one that wants to take us forward where we deserve to be. yet there that wants to hold us back as he has for the past three decades. mitch mcconnell stands on the wrong side of every issue out there for kentuckians. when it comes to increasing the minimum wage, he has voted against it 15 times. never gone without a pay raise for himself. quadrupled his net worth on the backs of hard-working kentuckians that cannot afford it.

he says it is the last thing he will put his name to. when i am in the senate, it is the first thing we put our names to. it is not a minimum wage, it is a living wage. each and every kentucky and deserve to live the american dream. when it comes to the women, he is on the wrong side of every issue, voting against the violence against women act. the lilly ledbetter act. if you can't stand up to protect kentucky past women against violence, you don't deserve to be a united states senator. [applause] as your next united states

senator i will work to make sure that kentucky women it equal pay for equal work, $.79 on every dollar is not acceptable. and let's get the record straight, it is on mitch mcconnell's watch, not mine, that we have lost thousands of coal jobs. mitch mcconnell's watch that we have gone without the necessary funding to implement clean coal technology. it is on mitch mcconnell's watch, not minds that overburdened some epa regulations have been imposed upon the commonwealth of kentucky. this election will be about holding you accountable for all that has happened on your watch. the three words that scare senator mcconnell the most, besides seeing alison munter

send grimes on the ballot, it is pro-coal kentucky and. i do not agree with the president, a war on coal. i think it is wrong for kentucky. we cannot afford to have six more years of mitch mcconnell and washington, d.c. as kentucky's next united states senator i will fight to make sure coal has a long-term place in our national energy policy. that we have the funding to implement clean coal technology and restore coal to its rightful place as a prime american exports. anything you hear to the contrary from mitch mcconnell, it is a lie, kentuckians. when it comes to the veterans of the state, 300 50,000 veterans that we have in the commonwealth, the fourth-largest

in the nation, mitch mcconnell vote against them as he both against the higher for heroes advocates act. i will continue to champion and work to make that act permanent. [applause] and for our working american men and women, mitch mcconnell does not want you to have a voice. i believe collect the bargaining is a fundamental right. i will have none of the right to work for legislation, another unionbusting. together we will grow the middle class.

when it comes to the jobs that you know we so desperately need in the commonwealth of kentucky. we know where senator mcconnell has been. we finally got the admission as we went to the eastern part of the state a month ago. in response to what will you do to help bring jobs back to this state he said, and i quote, it is not his job to bring jobs to the commonwealth of kentucky. we cannot afford to have a senator who does not believe as i do. it is a number one priority to help put hard-working kentuckians back to work. this race is about someone who for 30 years has never put forward a jobs plan, does not

believe it is responsibility. unlike mitch mcconnell i will rise every morning and go to bed every night with the burden on my back of helping to put kentuckians back to work. that is the job of the united states senator. [applause] it is making sure the boilermaker in eastern kentucky who cannot put their suitcase in a yard sale because they've -- they might need it to go find work has a way forward. the mother of a six-month-old who does not know how she is going to be able to provide for her young daughter because of a 16 day government shutdown that mitch mcconnell caused who are at the forefront of the

election. make no mistake, there is no silver bullet that will solve all of our economic woes, but it is about two things. one i'm having a senator that believes it is their job to help grow the middle class and put kentuckians back to work. and two, a senator that has a plan to get out there. it is about doing the right thing over a sufficient amount of time with the proper investment. kentuckians, together we will get there. let me tell you, this election comes down to one thing. if you think that washington is working for you, that they are in touch with you and your family, that the last six years, you would like to have been rude duplicate it, then you keep the senior senator in washington until 2020. but if you are like the majority of kentuckians and you think washington is not working for

the state, that mitch mcconnell is out of touch and gone washington and we want to have a better six years, then i invite kentuckians all across the commonwealth to join the campaign. we can do better and together we will do better. thank you. god bless each of you and the commonwealth of kentucky. [applause] ♪

>> a few days after winning the primary, mitch mcconnell spoke

at a conference focused on the domestic agenda, where he said there would be changes in the senate if republicans win control. >> it is my honor to introduce the senate minority leader, mitch mcconnell. he has given many important policy directives over the past two years and has got one today that you were not going to want to miss. he will offer a few remarks on the role of the senate and advancing solutions. why the middle class? inis you dig and importance the fiber of this nation. not because being middle class is important but because it is an aspirational goal that is unique to the way the united states has been formed. most middle-class americans do not think they are middle class. that is the kind of aspiration dilution,not reflect

but one that does reflect aspiration. if we don't serve that it will effect. it is something that matters a lot to mitch mcconnell. big primary victory, and i am sure he is pleased of that. he has been here to speak many times, and we are delighted to and from him, his insights practical solutions, and his ideas inspire us or new policy work and for our work. ladies and gentlemen, mitch mcconnell. [applause]